FAE Announces Scholarship Extension

The Foundation for Appraisal Education board is pleased to announce a two week extension to the annual scholarship application period!

Applications will be accepted thru Monday, July 16, in order to give everyone an opportunity to submit their applications. The scholarship award recipients will be announced on or around July 31.

New this year, an additional scholarship in the "Experienced Appraiser category" has been added to the three existing scholarships.

The application may be found on the FAE website.

Announcing New ISA CAPP members and Membership Applicants

ISA would like to announce and congratulate our newest ISA CAPP members for the second quarter of 2012:

Michael Logan – Kingsport, TN
Richard Wisner – Charlotte, NC
Susan Sturdivant – Dallas, TX

Congratulations on all of your hard work and this outstanding achievement!

Also, we would like to introduce, 20 new membership applicants for this quarter.  Please join us in welcoming these applicants to the Society.

David Altherr – Clarkdale, AZ
Christopher Bailey – Springfield, IL
John Brown – Ellwood City, PA
Jane Brumfield – Boise, ID
Thomas Derric – Jacksonville, NC
Jacquelyn Dewdney – Des Moines, IA
Janette Doering – Canmore, AB
Elizabeth Edwards – Toronto, ON
Derrian Fentress – Roswell, GA
Lyn Huck – Roswell, GA
Gwyn Kaitis – Joliet, IL
Anne Kelly – Dallas, TX
Jeanette Langmann – Vancouver, BC
Katherine Manning – Barrington, IL
Ashley Mays – Sacramento, CA
Victoria Nickell – Austin, TX
Terry Oldham – St. Joseph, MO
Ronnie Prince – Aventura, FL
Susan Reutern-Prokuski – Santa Fe, NM
Elizabeth Ruffner – Signal Mt., TN

Congratulations on taking this important step in furthering your professional career and welcome to ISA!

If you would like to recommend someone for membership, please forward their contact information to Sara Porter:sporter@thesentergroup.com.

Books, Books and more Books

A few months ago I was sitting in my office looking at the amount of books I had in the bookcases. I knew that they were only the books that were out on the shelves, and there were more in the drawers and under cabinets.   It seemed so overwhelming for some reason and I got to thinking about the need for books in my world today.  I was actually considering selling some, giving some away or even tossing some of the price guides I seem to have the need to hold on to forever.  I could clean my office, it would look like a human being worked here and that being (me) had a head on their shoulders.   But as things seem to go, I didn’t get around to cleaning off the bookshelves that particular day or week and there they stayed.

Thank Goodness.

 In the past two months I have had to do valuations that involved many pieces of property.  One project had over 500 pieces which had to be identified, evaluated and valued.  That is quite a few pieces of property to cover.   The problem with this project was that many of these pieces were Victorian and early 20th Century glass.  Now, you see where my books came into play.  Luckily I have loads of good books on glass and I needed almost everyone on the subject of this type of glass.  I needed to identify the glass if it was Hobbs, Fenton, McKay, Westmoreland, Wavecrest, and on and on.

Sure you can go to the internet and do your identifications by clicking and clicking, saving, printing and reading.  But you know sometimes that takes more time than sitting with your stack of books, opening to the pages you need and doing some actual reading.   Good books have great information and they can answer a mountain of questions before you start to make mistakes that you don’t even realize you made until it is too late.  For example,  how to tell if the milk glass is an original 19th Century or a reproduction.  Or, is that unmarked painted butter dish by Northwood? Is that Tiffany candlestick complete or is something missing?

I know it might not appear that most glass items from the 19th Century are very important in today’s marketplace.  But, you know they are to those who collect and cherish these items.  If they are some ones parent’s collection and you have to help them divide the property you better be on target as to what you are looking at before you start to value.  It can be overwhelming at first but when you find your rhythm you start to move along pretty quickly.  Once I found the type of glass I was valuing, finding the values was rather easy and quick.

It is not just glass that causes this kind of problem, it can be lamps, figurines, vases,  pottery and all sorts of decorative items that somehow are stored in the estates I work with.  After all these years of looking at things my brain can only hold so much at the ready and sometimes it needs a reboot.  Thank goodness for my books . When I go to them, they trigger that particular file in my brain database and automatically refreshes my knowledge that I know I had somewhere in that flash drive otherwise known as my mind.  

So my word of caution is this – be careful when you clean out your library, the one you give away or sell might just be the next one you need for your project.

Judith Martin, ISA CAPP

Final Reminder: Call for Nominations

Have you submitted your nominations for the upcoming ISA Board of Directors election?

Nominations or letters of intent and a resume are due to Marian “Mo” Aubry, ISA CAPP by this Friday, June 15!

There are three vacancies which must be filled, and we are seeking candidates who will lead and inspire our membership. Each vacant position is for a three-year term. The ISA Board meets four times a year, two via conference call and two are in person, with one taking place at the annual conference and the other in Chicago at ISA headquarters.

If you are looking to lead and to become more involved within ISA, this is the perfect opportunity.

Please contact:
Marian “Mo”, Aubry ISA CAPP
Chair, Nominating Committee
941-921-4237 or 941-544-6806
Marianaubryappraisals@comcast.net

Be a Guest Blogger on ISA NOW

Would you like to share your insight, expertise or an interesting experience that you have had while out in the field? Have you recently appraised a unique or rare item? Tell the ISA Now readers about it and share your story. We want to hear from you, our readers; send your story to Michelle Stearns, Education and Credentialing Coordinator at: mstearns@thesentergroup.com, to be a Guest Blogger on ISA Now!